Hi, my name is Federica, I am seventeen years old and in this article I want to talk about
mental health, a very important issue to me. Mental health means being happy with yourself,
a state of mind that lets you live a happy life, not just with yourself, but with all your beloved.
Mental health affects many teenegers, especially in the new generation, the so-called Gen Z.
Today thousands of girls and boys struggle everyday with their thoughts. They live with the
constant fear of judgment about their behavior or physical aspect, fighting daily with anxiety
and paranoia, but there’s more, often these problems turn into real personality disorder. The
most diffuse pathologies are Borderline Personality Disorder, Bipolar Disturb and
Narcissism, but mental health can also relate to eating disorders, DCA, including Binge
Eating, Anorexia, Bulimia. These are the most “famous” one, but indeed there are many
others.
Mental health is extremly important in a person’s life, if mental health is not treated as well as
a physical illness, it can lead to serious consequences, such as suicide. For this reason it ‘s
essential to always consult a specialist who can help you heal. The most widespread
example to date is Depression, a disease that brings the person who is affected to slowly
lose himself and the control of his life. Depression is a chronic state of “emptying”, you
become apathetic, insensitive and nothing touches you anymore. You lose your habits, you
even stop washing yourself or getting out of bed, in the most serious cases. So it is
essential to follow the proposed therapy to heal, including the use of psychiatric drugs.
About food behavior disorders, in these cases eating becomes a nightmare, you have the
phobia of gaining weight and eat less and less until you almost stop. At most you only allow
yourself some water. Especially in these cases therapy is necessary for healing, because
here too, in the most extreme cases, it can lead to death. In Italy there are many structures
dedicated to the rehabilitation of people suffering from DCA, and it is thanks to these
structures that many teenagers are able to save themselves from these awful disturbances.
Today, about 3 million young people in Italy suffer from these disorders. All of this makes
you think how we have a completely wrong view of eating, an action that has been linked to
man since birth, from the period of breastfeeding., and how this is fueled by social
stereotypes of perfect bodies that are proposed on TV. Young people always find
imperfections in themself because of the comparisons with this “model”. I really hope that all
those who are facing these kinds of battles will be able to win against them to live the happy
life they deserve. My father always repeats to me: “ The world is beautiful because it is
varied”, and I firmly believe in these words, so young people from all over the world this is
my message: “always love yourself, and especially love what makes you unique and
inimitable”.
Federica Ferraiuolo
Jump Team
